Clogged justice system leads to recidivism

(NewsUSA) — Despite enormous interest in the outcome of the Casey Anthony trial, more questions have emerged than answers. The truth is that the criminal justice system remains a vast enigma to the majority of the population.

Popular television programs have led juries and the public to expect hard evidence including fingerprints, DNA analysis and other forensic evidence clearly pointing to perpetrators, but the facts are seldom so clear-cut.

“One problem is that there are so many crimes in the U.S. today that the system is clogged with huge numbers of offenders,” explained Greg Little, a psychologist who specializes in criminal treatment.

“There is no way that the system can do what the public now expects on each case,” Little said.

One reason for the high crime rate in many U.S. cities is that the system is clogged with a large numbers of offenders, says psychologist and author Greg Little. Many of those offenders have a diagnosable and treatable disorder known as antisocial personality disorder, Little believes. (Photo provided)

Along with his colleagues, Little has issued a new textbook on the way the justice system treats offenders. In the book, he asserts that most offenders are diagnosable with a criminal personality, known as antisocial personality disorder.

“ASPD is the professional term for psychopath or sociopath,” he explained. “About 4 percent of the adult population has the disorder, with adult men showing a rate of nearly 6 percent.”

The disorder has a severity scale with a wide range of behavior. The less severe ones lie, cheat and take advantage; the most severe are violent and resort to murder. If the average American looks outside his or her front door and sees five other houses, chances are that
there is a psychopath living in at least one of them.

In “Antisocial Personality Disorder and Criminal Justice,” he makes the extent of the problem in America clear. Nearly 15 million arrests are made in America each year, but jails house only 800,000 individuals awaiting trial.

Prisons hold another 1.5 million people, but five million other convicted criminals are living in the community under parole or probation. Within three years, about 40 percent of probationers will be arrested again. After release from prison, an astonishing 67 percent will be re-arrested. For more information, check out www.ccimrt.com.